The War of Nations
by Infallible95
Summary: The two most powerful nations are at war, the Uchiha nation and the Edolas nation. Who will come out victorious? Follow Natsu and Naruto, two sides of the same coin, as they fight for the victory of their nations. NatsuxErza and NarutoxIno story. The building of their romances are going to be slow. Rated T for gore, violence, and language.
1. The Beginning of a War

**The War of Nations**

The sky rumbled as lightening flashed across the sky. A figure was kneeling in a tree, overlooking the courtyard of a mansion. The figure was clad in a shinobi shōzoku. The figure had a hood pulled up over the head, with a mask covering the face. The mask was the face of a fox, with blood dripping from where the mouth was.

As the figure looked down at the courtyard, guards could be seen patrolling the ground, alert for the signs of any trouble. Two guards were seen standing in front of the gate, with swords strapped to their waists. They were constantly scanning the landscape before them, searching for any intruders.

The figure scanned the whole courtyard, searching for the weakest spot to hit. As the figure's eyes rested on the weakest point, the gate, the figure blurred out of existence, moving in to begin the assault.

Erza Scarlet was sitting in the chair across from her father, Makarov Dreyar, with an expressionless face. Well, he wasn't her biological father, but she considered him as her father. She had been abandoned and left to die by her biological parents, but Makarov had been walking by an alleyway and found her. Makarov offered Erza a home and a loving family. Erza owed him her life, and would do anything she could to protect him.

Makarov Dreyar was the leader of Edolas, one of the top two most powerful nations in the world. Although he was the leader of such a powerful nation, the populace loved him. He treated everyone fairly, and kept the country stable. He always made sure to try and keep the nations needs in front of everything else, helping the people of his kingdom as much as he could.

Even though he was a nice and fair leader, his battle prowess had been unmatched when he was a young king. Due to an injury gained in battle, he was nowhere near as powerful as he used to be. During his times on the battlefield, only one man had been able to stand up to him in a one on one battle. That man was known as the Sage, and he was the previous leader of the Uchiha Nation, and whom they were currently at war with.

The Edolas and Uchiha nations had once been at peace before, a long time ago. The leaders of the nations had been good friends, and relations between the two nations had been relaxed. That was until the Edolas nation had found a rare material while digging.

Initially the stone hadn't been worth anything, but when tested by Edolas's scientists, they found something extraordinary about the stone. Inside the stone was immense power, and with a big enough stone could become a weapon of mass destruction. Once found out, both nations reacted differently to this.

The Edolas nation wanted to seal away the rock, for they believed that the power that the stone contained should not be unleashed into the world. The Uchiha nation took the other side; they saw how the power could benefit them.

Back in that time they were not the two strongest nations, and they were much smaller. So the Uchiha wanted to take the power, and use it to take over the rest of the nations. They argued that if they both nations had that power, then they could lead side-by-side, ruling over the world.

Edolas had refused, and the Uchiha had been enraged. They declared war on Edolas, which sparked the start of a long and bloody war. Both sides used shinobi, but they used different type of techniques. The Uchiha had developed the way to use power stored in their genes and body's, a power called chakra. While Edolas could not use chakra, their bloodlines and genes had developed a way to use magic stored in their bodies. Both side's abilities were effective, and neither one was stronger than the other.

No one knows why Uchiha can use chakra and not magic, or why Edolas can use magic but not chakra. All that is known is that both are equally as powerful, leading to the battles between them being bloody and violent. The war had continued up until nearly present day, when Makarov and the Sage took over the two countries.

Makarov had always disliked the war, thinking it stupid and that they were just wasting human lives. Even though he disliked the war, he knew that there was no way to stop it as fast as he wanted to, so he trained to become the best. After years of training, Makarov was soon the one of the strongest warriors on the battlefield, winning many of the battles through his own strength and will.

It was during a certain battle that Makarov winning streak was stopped. It was upon this battlefield that Makarov met his rival and soon to be friend, the man known as the Sage. On the battlefield Makarov and the Sage met each other, and it become known as "The Clash of Titans." So great was this battle that both sides retreated in order to not get caught up in the battle.

Makarov and the Sage fought for two days straight, neither giving in. At the end of the second day, both were too tired to fight anymore. Both of them agreed to a draw, and ordered their armies to retreat. That battle was the start of their long lasting rivalry and friendship, one created through respect.

After many fights on the battlefields, both warriors eventually made it to becoming leader of their countries, and when they did they created a peace treaty. During this time, the countries started to tentatively trade with each other, and both countries started to thrive again.

This treaty came to an end with the death of the man known as the Sage, and his eldest son, Madara, took over control. Makarov tried to keep the treaty with Madara, but to no avail as Madara rekindled the war again. Madara had tried to take Edolas in one fell swoop by leading a huge army into Edolas, which caused Makarov to have to lead his own army to meet Madara.

It was in this battle that Makarov lost his only son, Laxus. Makarov had engaged Madara in a one on one battle, intent on ending the war before it had a chance to start. They had both been evenly matched, and their battle was devastating. It was then that Makarov saw something he wished that he never had to.

There was a lull in Makarov and Madara's fight, allowing Makarov to check up on Laxus. What he saw has haunted his dreams ever since. As he was watching, he saw a shinobi with a fox mask on appear behind Laxus. He saw the sword impale Laxus through the back and out his chest.

Makarov cried out as Laxus's body fell to the ground, and the ninja with the fox mask wiped the blood off his sword. Before he could make a move towards him though, his right hand man Natsu Dragneel, known as the Flame Dragon by everyone other then Makarov, engaged the ninja. He had clearly seen what had happened, and Makarov entrusted him to cleanse the earth of the filth that killed his son.

Even with that though, he was filled with complete and utter rage at the death of his son. He re engaged Madara, with the intent of completely obliterating him off the face of the earth. With the rage empowering him, he was able to wound Madara, forcing him to retreat. Makarov had still been enraged, and would have chased after if Natsu had not stopped him.

He was able to calm down, but still seething in his mind at the thought of Madara and the shinobi with the fox mask. Although Natsu was not able to kill or catch the shinobi with the fox mask, he was able to identify him as the Daemon Fox, Madara's right hand man. Makarov vowed to get his revenge, and was determined to fight and win the war, so that the monster known as Madara would never be able to take control the world.

He had then fainted from blood less, and was rushed back for medical care. What they had found out shocked everyone. Makarov had taken a serious wound from Madara, and would never be able to fight as well as he used to. Natsu was shocked at this news, but was able to keep it silent. If the Uchiha were to know of this, they would have surely attacked again, and Edolas would not be able to repel them the next time.

So they kept Makarov's condition a secret to all but a select few, so that Madara's defeat against Makarov would distill any direct attack. That was the cause of their current war status, just assassination attempts, and no actual battles. Natsu had entrusted Makarov's safety to the soldiers, and had left for the past year and a half to go and train. He had vowed to defeat both Madara and the Daemon fox, but knew that he would need to be stronger in order to achieve this.

Although Erza showed no outer emotion as she sat next to her father, inside she was actually extremely worried. Her dad's spies had reported that there was going to be an attempt on her father's life this night. That was why he had so many guards, and why they were so alert.

They sat in the family living room, with dozens of soldiers standing around, with everyone tense. Everyone jumped when the door opened, and many of the soldiers drew their swords. A breath of relief was let out as it was a messenger entering, not the enemy. Even with this new knowledge, all eyes were on the messenger, watching for any signs of danger.

Two of the soldiers stepped closer to Makarov, effectively blocking the messenger off from being able to get to Makarov. One on the soldiers held out his hand. "Give me the message, and I'll hand it to the King."

The messenger dug into his pocket, albeit slowly as to not give the wrong idea, and pulled out an envelope. He handed it over to the soldier, and left with a bow, walking as fast as he could to get out of the way. The soldier with the envelope briefly checked it to see if anything was done to it, and then handed it over the Makarov. Makarov opened the envelope with Erza reading over his shoulder. The note simply said "_The Flame Dragon is in flight_"but those words filled Makarov with relief.

He had ordered Natsu back for extra protection, and with this note he knew that he was close since he probably sent the message on the pigeon right before he himself had left. His relief was cut short when there was a scream from outside. All the soldiers tensed up, and a few ran towards the window. What they saw shocked them. The courtyard was littered with the dead bodies of the guards.

One of the soldiers at the window turned around. "It's begun! Be ready!" The rest of the soldier quickly drew their swords, and closed around Makarov and Erza in a protective circle. Erza wanted to join them, but her sword was not with her right now, something she was immensely regretting at the moment.

There were more screams from around the house, and then silence. Everyone in the room waited in tense silence, eyes flicking all around for any sign of danger. The door suddenly burst open, with a figure walking in. The guard's eyes widened as they saw his mask. "I-its him! The Daemon Fox!"

The guards showed a moment of fear, then steeled themselves and charged him. The Daemon disappeared, and reappeared before the man in front of the charge, cutting the man in half. He ducked and dodged his way through the ranks, cutting a path through the men towards Makarov. The captain of the guard met the Daemon sword with his shield, and pushed him back.

"You shall not go any further, Daemon!" he stated as he advanced forward with his shield lowered. He bull rushed the cloaked man, with his intent on knocking him over. The Daemon jumped into the air, swinging his sword down. The captain blocked the swing with his sword, pushing the Daemon further into the air. "Now!"

The Daemon looked at the other guards, who all sent their own magic attack at him, all of them merging into one attack. He quickly made a few hand signs, and hit their magic with his own fireball. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" The fireballs hit each other and exploded, knocking a few of the soldiers down and creating a cloud of dust.

The Daemon burst through the flame, heading straight for Makarov. The captain had anticipated the move and jumped in front of the Daemon, holding up his shield. Right before reaching him, he formed a spinning ball in his hand. He thrust his hand forward, connecting with the shield. "Rasengan!" The captain let out a shout of surprise as he was blown back wards, hit the wall with a loud _thunk_. His body slid to the floor, his neck broken from the impact.

The Daemon made a few more hand signs, and disappeared in a flash of yellow light. He reappeared a few seconds later behind a soldier, stabbing him through the back. He ripped the sword out through his side, blood gushing out of the wound. The Daemon disappeared again in a yellow flash, and in what seemed like seconds all of the soldiers were dead, or in the process of dying.

The Daemon flicked the blood off his sword, and started to walk towards Makarov. He dashed forward with his sword point held out, ready to pierce Makarov through the heart. With a few feet left in between them, Makarov burst into action. With a roar, he slammed his left fist into the side of the sword, knocking it out of his hand. The Daemon was caught off guard with the sudden movement, and was unable to avoid the punch from Makarov's right fist.

Makarov's fist connected with the Daemons chest, a loud crunching noise was heard. The Daemon was blasted back, hitting the wall with enough force to crack it.

Makarov sat with, breathing heavily. He had put all of the power he could muster into the punch, and was utterly wiped out. He glared at the body slumped against the wall, glad about finally ending the life of his son's murder.

Erza was clutching her father arm, worried about him. She saw Makarov's eyes widen, and she quickly looked over towards the body against the wall. As she looked, she saw the last traces of smoke disappearing, with the body gone. Both of them heard laughter behind them, and their heard quickly turned towards the noise.

They saw the Daemon meld out of the shadows. "You didn't think the real me would actually just barge in here like that, did you?" His voice was a deep, baritone. "That's one of the basic rules for the a ninja. Deceit. I'm surprised you didn't figure that out old man. Although, I am more surprised at your condition." He chuckled. "No matter, your defenseless now." His tone was mocking, which just made Makarov's hatred for him grow.

Erza stepped in front of Makarov, with one of the fallen soldiers swords in her hand. "He's not completely defenseless. I will defend him with my life." She tried the weight of the sword. It was heavier then her own sword, but it would have to do.

The Daemons voice gained a hard tone to it. "Women of nobility should know their place." Erza glared at him

"How dare you look down on me!" With a shout of anger, she rushed him, making it look like she didn't know what she was doing. The Daemon lazily swung his sword, and was surprised when Erza ducked under it and lunged forward with a slash, narrowly missing his neck as he leaned back.

Erza continued the attack, slashing and thrusting at him, trying the get an opening. It seemed that her initial surprise had worn off, as he was easily parrying and dodging her attacks now. As she made a thrust towards his heart, he knocked the sword out of her hand. She took a step backwards, slightly off balance, and he used the opportunity to punch her in the gut. Her eyes widened at the strength behind the punch, and she clutched her stomach as she slid back a few feet, slumping to the ground.

The Daemon slowly walked up to Erza. "Well, that was a surprise. You had me fooled at the beginning; but you are still grossly under trained to even begin to think that you stood a chance against me." She spat on his foot, and he chuckled. "Defiant until the end, eh?"

He then raised his sword into the air. "It is a shame really, to have to kill such a beautiful women. Orders are orders though." Makarov's eyes widened, but he couldn't move very well due to his weakened state. As the sword descended he reached his hand out. "ERZA!"

Erza closed her eyes, waiting for the flash of pain. Instead she heard the sound of steel against steel, and her eyes flew open. She saw a sword blocking the Daemon's, and her eyes traveled down the sword to the owner. There stood the Flame Dragon, the right hand and enforcer of the country, wearing the same outfit as the Daemon, except with a dragon mask instead of a fox mask.

Natsu engulfed his sword in flames, and pushed on the sword with enough strength to send the Daemon flying across the room. Natsu stepped in front of Erza. "Sorry I'm late, Master."

Makarov relaxed and smiled happily. "Not a problem, at least you were able to get here." Natsu nodded, and then took a step towards where the Daemon was standing. "Now we can resume this unfinished fight from before, can't we?"

The Daemon crouched down, with his sword extended. "Indeed, Dragon."

They both dashed forward together, locking sword at the halfway point. The Daemon spun and sliced downward, only for Natsu to disappear and reappear to the side. Natsu took a deep breath. "Fire Dragon's Roar!" And breathed out a fireball towards the Daemon. The Daemon did a few hand signs, than blew another fireball at Natsu. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

The two abilities hit each other, and exploded into a cloud of dust. Natsu and the Daemon both rushed into the cloud, swords clashing again, the air from their meeting blowing the dust away. They then both disappeared in a flash, reappearing next to each and clashing swords, doing this over and over, so fast that both Makarov and Erza were having a hard time keeping up.

Erza was still on the ground, watching the fight with fascination. '_So fast…_' Although she was considered a good fighter, as she could easily beat a normal soldier, she realized just then how out of her league she was against these two monsters.

The fighting and explosions had long since destroyed the wall and ceiling, and Natsu and the Daemon both jumped on the field that was Makarov's backyard. The two were running parallel to each other, closing in on each other to clash swords, than backing off. They both came to a stop, and Natsu gathered the magic power inside of him self, with the Daemon making more hand signs. The both attacked at the same time. "Secret Technique: Fire Dragon's Halberd!" "Fire Release: Flame Burst!"

They both rushed at each other, Natsu's sword and body engulfed in burning hot flames, and the Daemons sword also engulfed in flames. Before their swords could meet, the Daemon did a quick one-handed hand sign. "Wind Release: Stream" and blew it onto his sword, strengthening and empowering the flames on his sword.

The swords met, with both parties struggling to over power the other. The heat from their flames were so hot that all the rain within 20 feet of them was immediately evaporated with a hiss. With a shout from both of them, their abilities exploded against each other, sending both of them flying backwards. Natsu crashed into a tree and broke it in half, and the Daemon was sent skidding across the ground until he hit a rock.

Both of them got back up, shrugging off the debris that was on them. Natsu got ready to attack, but noticed the Daemon was not. Natsu raised an eyebrow under his mask, and glared at the man across from him, wondering what he was up to.

The Daemon put a hand on his mask and took it off. He had blonde hair, with eyes that had a tint of red in them, and marks on his cheeks that looked like whiskers. "I have used too much time, so this fight is another draw. However, you are a respectable opponent, so I shall you give you my full name. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, the right hand of Madara Uchiha."

Natsu did the same, taking off his mask. "Natsu Dragneel, the right hand of Makarov."

Naruto chuckled. "We are destined to fight then. While this was a draw, I have a feeling our next battle will not be the same."

They both stared at each other, the rain falling even harder now, soaking both of them. What they saw in each other's eyes was respect and determination. Respect for the others fighting skills, but determination to win the next fight. Naruto than took a step back, fading into the shadows, retreating back to his lands. Natsu jogged back to the house, disappearing than reappearing next to Makarov. He knelt down next to the Makarov. "Are you alright, Master?"

Makarov nodded, and leaned back into the chair. "Yes, just exhausted." He looked around the room. "So much death" He sighed "If only the treaty had been able to last, we could be thriving and building, instead of waging war and killing each other off.

Natsu nodded "That is true, but for as long as this war lasts, I shall kill all of your enemies, until I can have your dreams become reality." Makarov smiled.

"Hopefully that time is soon."

Erza came up behind Natsu, and bowed her head. "Thank you, for saving us."

Natsu inclined his head in her direction. "It is my duty to protect the family, at all costs."

Makarov spoke up "Speaking of protecting the family, I need you to do something."

Natsu bowed his head. "Anything you require, Master."

Makarov pointed at Erza. "I need you to train her. She has bested all of her teachers, but she needs to grow stronger. She is going to be the new head of this country, so she needs to grow powerful in order to protect it."

Erza gave him a surprised look. "What do you mean, the new head of this country? Your still its leader!"

Makarov shook his head. "I'll keep track of the political options, but I cannot fight for this country any more. I am too weak. You need to protect this country, and be a figure for the people to rally behind. With my condition now known, I suspect Madara will attack within the year. Our armies will clash again, and you shall be leading the army, with Natsu at your side. He will now be your right hand, to defeat your foes, as he did with me."

Natsu bowed his head. "You will always be my true Master, but I will make it fit so that Erza can lead this country." He turned to Erza. "Your training will begin in three days. Be prepared." With that said, he disappeared in flames, going to get some reinforcements and the workers back into the house.

Erza glanced at her father. "He doesn't seem to really respect me, does he?"

Makarov looked Erza in the eyes. "You have to earn his respect. And he does not give respect to anyone, only people that he thinks are exceptional."

Erza's eyes faltered, at the new responsibilities put upon her, but they quickly hardened. "I will not only earn his respect, but the respect of this nation. You may say to the people that you are giving me power, but I doubt people will be happy about a women leading. But I will show them all, I will excel at Natsu's training, and earn this nation's respect through kindness and strength, just like you."

Makarov smiled and patted her back. "That's my girl." He looked around and saw that since the ceiling had been destroyed, the rain was slowly washing away the blood from the room. He extended his arm to Erza with a sigh "Let get out of this room and rain. I need to rest."

Erza helped her father up, and they walked out of the room together, ready to face the coming days.

**(A/N) And that the beginning of my second story! Hope you guys liked the first chapter! While I put this is Fairy Tail, it is going to also be a cross over. I put it here because while I am going to have Naruto's side, I am going to focus more on Natsu and Erza. The whole Naruto universe is the Uchiha nation and the Fairy Tail universe is Edolas. This story is going to be a NatsuxErza story, and a NarutoxIno story. I want this story to focus more around action then romance, although there will be some romance. Also I'm not only going to focus on Natsu's side, I am going to give backstory about Naruto and the Uchiha nation. I will be going into Naruto's side of the story, which is how I'm going to give backstory and the NarutoxIno part of the story.**

**Also, expect an update from Flames and Steel later today. I am almost finished with the chapter, just need to write a little bit more and then re read it to make sure its all good. Also, I kind of gave up on the one-shot for now. I'll pick up again once I grow interested in it again, but for now these two stories are going to be filling up my writing time.**

**So yeah anyways, any reviews good or bad are welcome!**

**-Infallible**


	2. The Training Begins

**Hello, I'm back! Yes yes, I know that I said I was going to be back sooner, but I do this as a hobby and I had other things to attend to. At least I'm back, right? Anyways, without further ado (think that's how you spell it?), here is the second chapter to WoN!**

**The War of Nations**

Erza sat on the edge of her bed and ran a hand over her face, trying to get rid of her sleepiness. She yawned and stretched, getting off the bed and walking over to where her robe was hanging on the wall. She wrapped her self in the robe, exiting her room and walking down the hallway toward the hot springs, rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes.

She walked into the room with the hot springs, nodding at the maids who were currently standing, awaiting her command. She had requested that it be made early; since this was the day she began her training with Natsu. She took off her robe, handing it to a maid as she sank into the hot springs, letting out a sigh at the warmth.

After a few moments of soaking in the warmth, she gestured for maids to bring over the soap. They placed it down next to her, and Erza waved for them to leave. They bowed and quietly exited the room, closing the door behind them.

Erza lathered up her body, and washed her hair. After she was done washing her body, she sunk down into the water again, closing her eyes at the warmth of the water. As her thoughts began drifting away, she heard the step across the water. Her eyes snapped open and immediately focused upon Natsu, who was standing in his normal attire, although his mask was in his hand.

Erza slid deeper into the water and crossed her arms in front of her, while glaring at him. "What are you doing here? Don't you have any sense of decency?"

"You begin your training today. You don't have time to be lazing around." He said in a neutral tone, completely ignoring her words.

Erza sighed, giving up on trying to reprimand him. "Okay, thanks. Can you at least give me some privacy while I get dressed?"

Natsu bowed. "Your wish is my command, my Queen." With that said he disappeared in a flash of flames, giving Erza her privacy. Erza stepped out of the spring, shivering as the cool air hit her skin, causing goose bumps to pop up on her body. She quickly walked over to where the towels were hanging up.

She grabbed one towel, wrapping up her hair. She then grabbed another, drying off the rest of her body. She then wrapped it around her body, stepping into the hallway and walked to her room.

A half an hour later she stepped out of her room, donned in her armor. She rested her hand on her sword as she walked out of the house, and towards the training fields. As she got there, she saw thousands of men already training in the acres of fields that made up the training grounds.

She sensed someone stepping right next to her, and she glanced over her shoulder to see Natsu standing next to her, with his mask on.

"Follow me." He told her as he took a step forward, walking towards a wall in which all of the wooden training swords were held. Erza quickly walked forward and joined Natsu at the wall, catching the wooden sword he had tossed to her.

Erza looked at the wooden sword and placed it back in the bin. " I'm not some youngling just learning how to use a sword. Lets practice with real swords."

Natsu raised an eyebrow, but Erza cut him off before he could say a word. "The sense of danger and actual need to not be hit would be better for training, yes? I do after all need to learn faster then normal."

Natsu stared at her speculatively, thinking it over. He then nodded, and placed the wooden sword he had grabbed back and picking up his own sword. "That is true, I need to teach you at a faster rate." They both walked to a small clearing that was open.

The men around them cleared a space for them, giving them a wide berth when they realized whom they were and that they were using real swords. Natsu unsheathed his sword, and got into a ready stance. "I'm not going to hold back, so be prepared."

Erza unsheathed her own sword and held in front of her in a ready stance. "Yes, I know." They stared at each other, sizing each other up. Erza readjusted her grip on her sword, glad to have it with her. The familiar weight and feel was reassuring.

Erza tightened her gripped and rushed forward, swinging down to meet Natsu's blade with the sound of clashing metal.

And thus began their dance of clashing steel, with Erza being aggressive and Natsu being defensive. Erza was like a spinning maiden of death, graceful and quick in her attacks and movements. The soldiers looking on were slightly awed at her skills, wondering how she was able to pressure the Dragon so much.

Erza herself was a bit surprised at it herself, and a little elated at the fact. She continued the assault, waiting for an opportunity to strike. She saw it, and thrust her sword at the opening, going for a non-lethal cut. Erza was expecting the feel of a cut, a shallow one, but still a cut, but instead felt the shock of two swords connecting.

Erza's eyes widened as she felt Natsu's stance change, his muscles tightening. Natsu swung his sword, sending Erza sliding back a few feet. Natsu readjusted himself and took a ready stance again. "Now that I finished testing your offensive skills, time to see how good at defense you are."

Erza's eyes widened, and her heart plummeted. He was only testing her, after all she had done? She wasn't able to think of it as much though as she quickly brought her sword up, blocking Natsu's swing. The clash of swords sent a shockwave through her muscles, and she gasped at the strength behind the swing. '_So this is the power of the elite' _she thought as she desperately defended herself from Natsu's unwavering and unstoppable offense.

As Natsu's attack continued, she felt herself growing more and more tired. Blocking Natsu's strikes was getting harder and harder, each block taking more and more strength out of her arms. With a sweep and a flick of his wrists, Natsu knocked the sword out of her hand and held the tip of his sword to Erza's neck, effectively ending the onslaught.

The area was silent, just Erza's heavy panting and the distant sound of men training being heard. Everyone watching the fight was in utter awe at what they just saw. At first it had seemed like Erza was winning, but in a split second Natsu easily brushed off her offense and started his own, defeating Erza in the matter of minutes.

Natsu brought his sword down from her neck and sheathed it. "I can see how you are better then normal soldiers, but to beat the elite and Madara you will have to get much stronger. You will have to equal my own power."

Erza stood there panting on one knee, wondering how the gap between their strength was so great. She had thought that she had gotten so badly overpowered by the Daemon because she didn't have her own sword with her, but the fight that she had had just now proved that she was grossly mistaken. '_The power gap between us is too great. There's no way I can gain that strength before the war starts.'_ She thought with a sense of dread and despair.

As she stared at the ground, images of her father dead, then of the country and cities burning flashed before her eyes. The crying of mothers and parents, the crying of babies flashed through her mind. She tightened her grip on the sword, and her face set into one of determination.

'_If I give up now, how many people will die because I wasn't strong enough to defend them? I have to get stronger, for their sake as much as for my own sake.'_

Natsu watched Erza silently, watching the look of despair and defeat wash over her features. Just as quickly as the despair and defeat appeared on her features, they vanished only to be replaced by a look a determination.

Erza looked up and met Natsu's eyes through the holes in his mask. She thought she noticed a glint of respect in his eyes, but it disappeared so fast that she thought she might have imagined it. Natsu held out his hand to help out Erza, which she accepted.

Back on their feet, Natsu took a few steps backward, then held out his sword in a ready stance. "Now for round two. Come."

Erza gripped her sword in a firm grip, and with a narrowing of her eyes, rushed forward to begin her assault on Natsu yet again.

Erza sat down on the edge of her bed, utterly exhausted from her first day training. They had continued sword fighting for the rest of the morning, a non-stop dance of steel meeting steel. When lunchtime arrived, Natsu had allowed her a small break in order to rest and get something to eat.

Erza had been a little suspicious, so ate just enough to get rid of the hungry feeling. Her suspicions came to fruit when Natsu walked over, and told her now they were going to start the physical training.

Now, she wasn't a non-athletic person, in fact she had considered herself to be in shape. While she was physically fit enough to beat normal soldiers, Natsu showed her that she needed to get stronger physically in order to stand a chance against the elites.

For the rest of the afternoon, Natsu led Erza through the hardest training session she had ever gone through. After it was all said and done, Erza noticed that Natsu only look a little winded and was only sweating a little bit, while she on the other hand felt like she was creating a river by how much she was sweating.

With a sigh she laid down on her bed staring up at her ceiling. She had known that the training would be hard, but after just the first day she could barely stand afterward. She reached a hand towards the ceiling.

'_Maybe I'm just not cut out to be the leader of Edolas.'_

Just as quickly as the thought crossed her mind, she clenched her hand into a fist and dismissed the thought from her mind.

'_I'm not some weak, damsel in distress girl waiting for her knight in shining armor to save her. I WILL defend this nation, even at the cost of my life.'_

With that thought and her own sense of determination clear in her mind, she pulled the covers over herself and drifted off into a dreamless sleep, ready to take on the challenge of her training the next day.

Erza walked out of the royal palace, sword in hand. She lifted her head to the sky and closed her eyes with a smile, soaking in the warmth from the sun.

It had been four months since her training had started, and each day had been just as hard as the next. Everyday was the same, in the morning they sparred non-stop until lunchtime, where as they would take a short thirty minute break. After the short break, they would go right into the physical training, which would continue until dinnertime, in which they took a slightly longer break to eat dinner and have fuel to continue training.

After dinner is when Natsu started the magic training. While Erza needed to be physically strong and know how to wield a sword masterfully, she also needed to know how to use her magic to the highest ability that she could.

For the first few weeks, she felt like she was in hell, and that she would never be able to keep it up. As the training continued on though, Erza could feel the strength she was gaining as a result of the training. Slowly but surely she had been gaining ground on Natsu during their spars, and she had started becoming less and less tired after each training session.

Halfway through the third month came the proof of her improvement, when she had been able to disarm and beat Natsu after a half and hour-long duel.

For their duels, after a few days they had taken to going to a secluded clearing away from the other soldiers, in order to make the training more personal. Natsu had taken to not putting on his mask, since they made sure they weren't followed, which meant Natsu didn't have to worry about someone finding out his identity.

After Erza had beaten Natsu in the duel, his face had broken out into a grin, and he had started clapping. Ever since the training had started, they had slowly grown more and more comfortable with each other, reaching the point where Natsu started to show emotions in front of Erza and talked to her during their breaks. She was actually surprised about his personality, since she had though that he was all business and no relaxing.

Erza truly enjoyed the talks that she and Natsu had; she was able to learn more about him little by little. After the day she beat him, they had a week of really intense training, just to make sure that it wasn't by a stroke of luck that Erza beat him. In that week, Erza proved that she was at around Natsu's level, to which Natsu was satisfied.

This day she expected nothing less, just some more training with Natsu. She smiled as she walked towards where they usually meet, a little happy to be able to spend more time with Natsu. As she walked up to the meeting place she saw Natsu leaning against a tree, looking up into the sky with a melancholy look on his face.

She had noticed this a few times when she walked up; Natsu was sometimes too deep in thought to notice her right away. She always wondered what he thought about that gave him such a sad look, but never felt in the right to ask him.

As Natsu noticed her approaching, he wiped the look off his face to replace with a slight smile, and Erza smiled back with a small wave.

"Today we are going to do something different." Natsu stated as Erza walked up to him. Erza tilted her head with a questioning look on her face.

"We have passed the point of where I can teach you, from now on you must train yourself, look inside of your self and find out what you need best to improve in, and do that." Erza nodded her head, and Natsu gave another slight smile "Although I am surprised on how fast you were able to improve yourself, I don't think I've seen anyone else do it as fast as you."

Erza smirked "Well, I am the daughter of the King, am I not?" she said in a teasing manner, giving off a fake superior aura.

Natsu laughed and put his hands up in front of him "True, true."

"So if we aren't training today, then what are we doing?" she questioned.

"There is a group of people I want you to meet." With that said, he turned on his heels and started to walk off into the woods, motioning for Erza to follow him.

Erza jogged to catch up. "And who are these people?"

Natsu glanced at her and continued to walk forward. "You'll see."

Erza stared at him, then shrugged and followed him. She knew he had said all he was going to, and that she was going to have to see for herself who these people were.

**(A/N) Aaaaaaand, that's the end of the second chapter for this story. In the next chapter I plan on getting into more action stuff, and I am going to add in some more characters! So if you thinking, "Where the hell is Gray, Loke, etc?!" just wait one more chapter, and I shall deliver. (Yes I said those names on purpose)**

**I do not yet know how I am going to alternate through the Uchiha side and Edolas side, but I promise I wont forget about Naruto and all them. **

**To anyone that also follows my other story, I will be posting the next chapter to Flames and Steel soon, like within a few days or so. I just need to finish it up and make sure it's as perfect as I can get it without a beta reader. Speaking of that, I am still looking for a beta reader if anyone is interested. If so, send a PM my way!**

**Anyways, R&R (Even though you already read if you are reading this, what ever R&R looks better). The good, the bad, and the ugly reviews are all allowed! (Love that movie)**

**Also last note, finished high school! Finally.**

**Cheers!**

**-Infallibe**


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